Performing Arts News 2026 Term 2 Week 9

Schools Instrumental Eisteddfod

The Schools Instrumental Eisteddfod Day was held on Friday 29th May at CHEC Lecture Theatre D. BDC was well represented on the day, with groups entered in all possible sections.

Results:

Primary Schools Section
* Primary Drumming Group - 1st place
* Superstrings - Highly Commended

High Schools Section
* Highly Strung - 2nd Place
* Senior Jazz Ensemble - Highly Commended
* Secondary Rock Band - Highly Commended

Year 9/10 Section
* Sofia Bravo, Sophia Walraven and Zitong Lin - 1st place
* Frank Lane and Simon Vivas-Gutierrez - 2nd place

Year 11/12 Section
* Tim Hardman and Ollie Bond - 1st place (and the adjudicator said this was her favourite performance of the day!)
* Tenzin Aichroy and Axel Nicholson -  2nd place

Dance Eisteddfod 

Congratulations to our Dance students for their recent participation in the Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod. BDC had over 250 students from Kindergarten to Year 12 participate across a range of categories. A huge thank you to everyone who made the day possible and the success it was for our students.

1st Place
Year 2 Dance Academy
Kaizen Dance
Secondary Dance Academy
Year 11 & 12 Dance Group

2nd Place
Secondary Dance Academy

3rd Place
Year 1 Dance Academy
Year 5 & 6 Dance Academy

Highly Commended
Kindy Dance Academy
Stage 1 Boys
Year 4 Dance Academy
Year 12 Dancers
World Options Dance

Special Mentions

Year 3 Dance Academy – high marks and a wonderful performance.
Stage 3 Boys – an entertaining performance!
Year 7 & 8 Secondary Dance Academy – an amazing performance from our youngest high school dancers.

Electronic Music Workshop

On Tuesday 16th June, Chris Koelma from Musical Futures visited Bishop Druitt College to run a full day Electronic Music Workshop for elective and High Performance Music students in M2. The highly engaging and hands-on workshop outlined the history and development of electronic music and allowed the students to explore electronic hardware and DAWs to create their own pieces. Thank you to Chris for visiting our College and providing this opportunity for our Performing Arts students.

Frank Lane and Daniel Vivas-Gutierrez

Thank you to Frank Lane and Daniel Vivas-Gutierrez who performed on Monday 1st June at the Ukraine welcome ceremony at the Yarning Circle at BDC. 

They then also performed a set at the Hoey Moey on Wednesday 3rd June as part of the Coastal Grown Open Mic program. The students were well received by the audience and did a wonderful job.

Claude Taylor

Congratulations to Claude Taylor who won the 2026 Coffs Harbour Junior Instrumental Eisteddfod Championship.

The adjudicator, Beth Condon, praised Claude Taylor following his outstanding violin performance in the 14 Years and Under Coffs Harbour Junior Instrumental Eisteddfod Championship on Saturday 30 May, describing him as “a fabulous young musician!”

In addition to taking out the Junior Championship title, Claude also received several other music awards across the 2026 Coffs Harbour Eisteddfod, recognising his dedication, talent and musicianship throughout the competition.

Claude is 12 years old and plays violin, learning from Jennen Ngiau-Keng and piano from our Lizzie Jamison.

Congratulations Claude.

Ila Greenaway

Congratulations to Ila Greenaway for recently being accepted into the Regional Youth Orchestra (RYO) program AND the State Honours Ensemble Program (SHEP). 

Both of these programs required students to submit a video audition and were considered against a number of students. 

This is a great achievement for Ila.

Secondary Assembly

Thank you to Calamity Thorncraft who performed “Die on This Hill” by Sienna Spiro at the Week 7 Secondary Assembly and Ila Greenaway who performed "Syrinx” by Debussy at the Week 8 Secondary Assembly.

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